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Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has waived guard Andrew Andrews.
Andrews (6-2, 200, Washington) signed with the Hornets on Sept. 7 and appeared in three games, averaging 4.0 points on .429 percent from the field, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 10.4 minutes per contest.
The team’s roster now stands at 18.
Mason Plumlee played and started all 82 games last season for the Trail Blazers, averaging 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25.4 minutes per outing. Although those assist numbers don’t pop out, Plumlee is versatile, an excellent passer, and nobody would be surprised were he to eventually put up a triple-double in a game. Here’s CSNNW with more:
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The growing question among the Trail Blazers is not whether center Mason Plumlee will record a triple-double this season, but how many.
“Oh, I can see him getting a lot of them,’’ Damian Lillard said Wednesday after Plumlee had eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 24 minutes in the Blazers’ 88-84 exhibition win at Utah.
Two developments have led teammates to predict the esteemed accomplishment of recording double-figures in three categories.
First, Plumlee has developed a mid-range jump shot, which this preseason has graduated from offseason experiment to a legitimate part of his arsenal…
Second, the Blazers have added new offensive sets this season that will more often feature him in play-making positions. The new role builds off his effective playoffs, when he helped pick apart the Clippers with his athleticism, decision-making and passing.
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The NBA Development League and the Sacramento Kings today announced that the team has acquired a controlling interest in the NBA D-League’s Reno Bighorns. With the purchase, the Kings become the 15th NBA team to own and operate its NBA D-League affiliate.
“With today’s purchase, half of NBA teams now own and operate their NBA D-League affiliate – an important milestone that proves how essential developing top young NBA talent has become,” said NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner. “I’m thrilled to welcome Vivek Ranadivé and the Sacramento Kings’ ownership group to the NBA D-League family and want to thank Herb Santos for his integral role in Bighorns basketball.”
Longstanding partners, the Bighorns and Kings have been affiliated since the 2008-09 season, Reno’s inaugural NBA D-League campaign. Prior to the 2013-14 season, the teams entered into a single-affiliation partnership, with the NBA franchise managing basketball operations for the NBA D-League club. With today’s purchase, the Kings will now assume all business operations of the Bighorns.
“We’re excited to deepen our relationship with the Bighorns and the Reno/Tahoe community,” said Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé. “This is an incredible opportunity to develop players, front-office staff and future business executives for the Sacramento Kings, while simultaneously contributing meaningfully to the Reno entertainment, commercial and non-profit ecosystem.”
Five current Kings have NBA D-League experience. Additionally, head coach Dave Joerger and assistant coaches Bryan Gates and Duane Ticknor all made the jump to the NBA coaching ranks following stints on NBA D-League benches.
Since the team’s inception, more than 10 Bighorns have earned GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA, including San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green. Additionally, 16 NBA players have spent time on assignment in Reno, including current NBA players Jeremy Lin and Hassan Whiteside.
“It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to grow basketball and provide family-friendly entertainment in the Reno community over the past five years,” said Bighorns minority owner Herb Santos. “I cannot thank everyone enough for the years of support and look forward to continuing to cheer for the Bighorns alongside each of you.”
On Nov. 2, the Kings will join the Bighorns for a Celebration Day featuring Kings talent in order to give fans in Reno an opportunity to connect directly with the Sacramento organization. Those interested in purchasing a season-ticket membership can sign up on the priority list at RenoBighorns.com/membership or by calling 888-91-KINGS to have first shot at securing seats before they go on sale to the public on Nov. 2.
Launched in 2001, the NBA D-League has expanded from an eight-team league to a record 22 teams for the 2016-17 season, all of which will be singly affiliated with an NBA parent club. The NBA D-League will tip off its 16th season on Nov. 11.
Brandon Ingram is a rookie to watch this season. He appears to have all the potential in the world, but there’s no pressure on him to do big things right away. So we’re probably going to see occasional bursts of excellence. Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News with the latest:
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The movement looked so natural as Brandon Ingram navigated his way around the court.
He sank shots with balance as he set his feet and squared up in triple threat position. He scanned the court and found open teammates both in half-court and transition. He slid his deceptively thin frame into the lane to pluck rebounds off the rim as if they were apples on a tree.
The Lakers fell in love with Ingram when he perfected all those qualities during his lone season at Duke. After seeing him experience some hiccups in summer league and training camp, the Lakers saw Ingram flash signs of promising growth in their 123-112 preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Valley View Casino Center.
Ingram led the Lakers in points (21), in shooting efficiency (7 of 10) and rebounds (seven). He occasionally took care of ball handling duties both to tap into his versatility and take advantage of Golden State’s matchups that calls for positions to become interchangeable. And he put together a performance that made Lakers coach Luke Walton feel fuzzy about the team’s No. 2 draft pick.
Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune with an update on Rodney Hood, who averaged 14.5 points per game last season and remains a key member of the Utah Jazz:
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Shots were short all night for the Utah Jazz’s starting shooting guard. His explosion to the rim off the dribble wasn’t there, and there were times he was frustrated by the shots he was missing.
All the same, it was a return, and Hood was glad to get out onto the floor. In what was an 88-84 preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, Hood was happy to work out the kinks in a game that didn’t count. Now, he can move on to the real thing.
“I’ll be ready for the regular season,” Hood said. “I hadn’t been practicing or anything, so it was good to get out there and be able to take contact.”
That’s why the shooting struggles, and the overall rustiness mattered little to Hood. His return to health from the sprained left hand was more important.
Knicks guard Derrick Rose won his civil trial today. Here’s the NY Daily News reporting:
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A California jury has rejected a woman’s $21.5 million rape lawsuit against Knicks’ star Derrick Rose.
The jury deliberated for just under four hours Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court before finding the accuser hadn’t proven her claim that Rose and two friends gang-raped her while she was drunk or drugged in her central California apartment.
Rose showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and just shook his lawyer’s hand.
Outside of court, he said he was thankful the jury “understood and agreed with me.”
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The Milwaukee Bucks have exercised the fourth-year contract option on Jabari Parker, General Manager John Hammond announced today. This is not a surprise. Parker is one of the team’s key young building blocks.
Parker, 21, has appeared in 101 games (97 starts) in his first two NBA seasons and holds career averages of 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game. He was selected to participate in the 2016 BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge as part of the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, where he suited up for the U.S. Team. The 6-8 forward was named to the 2016 USA Men’s Select Team and earned the opportunity to train with the 2016 USA Basketball Men’s National Team during its training camp in Las Vegas in July. Parker is averaging a team-best 16.8 points to go along with 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in five preseason matchups in 2016.
Under the terms of the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, the first two years of a first round draft pick’s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team’s option.
Each year, many teams get praised for having potential simply because they have a young roster. The problem there is, just because players are young doesn’t mean they’re going to improve enough to collectively turn a lottery team into a winner. A force. A contender. Sure, second and third-year players tend to perform at a higher level the following season. But usually not enough to propel a team into playoff contender discussions. But the Timberwolves have a lot of great pieces, a great new coach, and as much potential as any team in the NBA to go from mostly losing (29 wins, 53 losses last season, 16 wins and 66 losses in 2014-15) to respectable status. Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune reporting:
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Kris Dunn is the exciting new Wolves rookie. Karl-Anthony Towns, at least according to NBA GMs, is the team’s franchise player — the one they would pick from the entire league right now if they were going to take one player to start a team. Zach LaVine is the super-athletic dunk champion. Ricky Rubio is the floor general.
But maybe, just maybe, Andrew Wiggins is the key to just how far the Wolves will go this year and beyond. He was the NBA’s top rookie two years ago and took a small step — but not a leap — forward last year. There doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus as to where his ceiling is — a nice wing but a volume scorer? An All-Star once or twice? A superstar? — but this is year three and those answers should start to come into focus.
Wiggins’ presence at the team’s media day a few weeks back suggested he’s emerging as a team leader along with Towns. But more important will be his play on the court — and while every NBA player works in the offseason in some way to stay sharp, a video that went live Tuesday of Wiggins’ summer work indicates a level of focus and intensity aimed at achieving greatness.
Super-athletic Aaron Gordon is one of the key young members of the Orlando Magic. Through three preseason games, Gordon is averaging 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game. He’s shooting just 31% FG, though it’s not worth paying too much attention to field goal percentage when we’re only talking about a few games worth of shots. Still, it’s been a modest preseason for him. Here’s the Orlando Sentinel with the latest:
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Magic SF Aaron Gordon is dealing with soreness in both ankles and sat out Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Gordon, though, said he expected to play Thursday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at Amway Center, Orlando’s final preseason game of 2016-17.
Gordon severely sprained his left ankle weeks before training camp, but in compensating for that injury, he has experienced some soreness in the right one now, too.
Gordon said his left ankle was hurting “so I compensated on my right one. They’re just sore.”
Pistons forward Tobias Harris averaged 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds for the 49 games he played for the Magic before his midseason trade to the Pistons, for whom he averaged 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 27 games. Entering 2016-17, he’s a key Piston. Here’s the Detroit News with an update:
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Add forward Tobias Harris to the growing Pistons injury list.
Stan Van Gundy said Harris suffered a non-displaced fracture of his nose in Monday’s exhibition victory over the Bucks.
“It’s not as bad as it could’ve been, but he needs to get fitted for a mask,” Van Gundy said Tuesday. “He’s seeing a specialist and should be ready to go (tonight).”
Van Gundy also said backup center Aron Baynes, who missed last weekend’s exhibition against the 76ers with back spasms and was a game-time decision against the Bucks, took an inadvertent shot to the face from rookie Henry Ellenson early during practice and had to leave.